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New islands are being born along the border of Arizona and Utah. That's an ominous thing, reports the Guardian in a look at Lake Powell, the country's second-biggest reservoir. Due to dwindling snow falls in the Rockies—which has spurred a crisis for the Colorado River, which feeds the lake—today it stands at just 45% capacity. That's brought new islands to the surface and turned established ones into "towering sandstone pillars," Chris McGreal writes. As one aquatic biologist puts it, "There's still a lot of water out there, but ... people hit rock islands all the time." Those people, some of the 3 million boaters and other tourists who come to Lake Powell each year, are hardly the only ones affected. That's because in addition to acting as a reservoir for four states, it sends additional water south to Lake Mead.

That's America's largest reservoir—and one that factors into a new New Yorker piece. David Owen writes of being at the Lake Mead Marina with two men who "were concerned about what [one of them] called 'apocalyptic reporting,' and they wanted to be sure I understood that the lake is still gigantic. That's certainly true, but if you know Lake Mead you can't help noticing that most of it is missing: the surface of the lake is about 130 feet lower than it was in 1998." McGreal puts it in starker terms: The April levels at Lake Mead were the lowest "since 1937 when it was still being filled." Drought is to blame, with one expert telling him the "15-year drought that we’re in is the worst drought in the last 100 years"—and noting the area has, in the last 1,000 years, suffered a drought that lasted six decades. For much more, check out the Guardian or the New Yorker. (Meanwhile, the West's dry spell has brought about "drought shaming.")

Ive never understood how they could let gas powered and oil lubed boats race around in the drinking water of millions of people (with the inevitable trash and bilge dumping that would occur….) Plus be more concerned about the effect of the low lake on boaters than on the population that drinks the water. But then, these are red states.

kawahchan

May 23, 2015 10:21 AM CDT

(R) 2016 Gov. RICK PERRY (http://bit.ly/1D3YKSC) and the 2016 Republican Presidential Hopeful CARLY FIORINA : These days, if you hear from any so-called Environmentalists to try to influence us how to live in this Earth, how to apply our energy resources, if these so-called themselves as an Environmentalist, be sure to ask these people whether they have a college degree in Earth Sciences or just regardless and ignore them. Now, we are living in the Arctic Era, the Seawater Desalination technology into freshwater (lakes) is very important to the world.